World Cancer Day 2008

This World Cancer Day is a time to pause briefly in order to view the advances made in treating malignant diseases. Thanks to molecular biological methods we know that cancer is caused by mutations at specific sites in the DNA of somatic cells.  We also know that transformed cells tend to give rise to heterogeneous outgrowths, i.e. subsequent additional mutations in the DNA of the tumor cells  give rise to different cell populations which vie with each other in a struggle for survival. This “Darwinistic” struggle ultimately leads to the survival of the cell types that grow autonomously and metastasize and which therefore are the most difficult to treat. Research is currently directed to establish better early detection methods for tumors, because it is obviously  more easily to treat them at an early stage. 

Growing cells are governed by signaling pathways that direct their growth, proliferation and ultimate death. Mutations leading to faults in these pathways cause cancer and therefore other research is directed to targeting the genes and proteins which are acting abnormally, thereby destroying their malignant potential.

It has already been know for many years that cancer can be treated with certain drugs (chemotherapy) and it was thought that the disruption of the DNA of the cancer cells by these drugs was the direct cause of the cell death. However, the mechanism turned out to be more complex than was originally thought, because in fact chemotherapy very often works by forcing cancer cells to commit suicide according to a mechanism called “apoptosis”. In such cases the apoptotic machinery of the cancer cell has to be in place in order for the cell to be susceptible to therapy, so research is also directed at restoring the apoptotic machinery of cancer cells which have lost their ability to die. 

Another important  area is the development of anti-angiogenic drugs by which to block the flow of blood to tumors, thus depriving them of essential nutrients. Terrestrial and marine plants and other biological products from all over the world are being investigated for their possible use in these areas in combination with already existing drugs. We look to the coming years with anticipation of additional results from these studies which will hopefully lead to ever more efficient strategies for cancer prevention and treatment.

Mels Sluyser,
Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief

Professor Mels Sluyser, the Editor-in-Chief of Anti-Cancer Drugs headed the Divisions of Endocrinology and Tumor Biology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam where in 1974 his group was the first to prove experimentally that  tumors consist of  heterogeneous cell populations and that clonal selection is the cause of loss of hormone responsiveness in breast cancer. In 1985 he proposed that mutations in steroid hormone receptors can cause them to act autonomously, a statement that later was confirmed experimentally.